PTiS formed in 1985 with Chuck (previously with Scum and Asylum) on drums, Dee on Bass, Siobhan (previously with Anathema) on Guitar and Shane on vocals. They were primarily influenced by Bristol hardcore punk bands like Disorder and Chaos UK and were my favourite band at the time. I had known them all for years. Siobhan was Phil's (from Toxic Waste) sister and Shane moved into the Toxic Waste house in '85 and went on tour with us. When Toxic Waste split they asked me to join and I jumped at the chance. Within weeks we were playing with AYS, Stalag 17 and Conflict at the Electric Ballroom in Camden London, filling in for the now defunct Toxic Waste. It was a complete disaster of a gig but a great laugh and we got paid about a tenner! Siobhan left not too long after that and went on to sing with the legendary Sledgehammer.

Siobhan

I had an old battered 4 Track cassette recorder and had recorded demos for Toxic Waste and Asylum in the past so as we couldn't afford to pay for a "real" studio we decided to record a demo as soon as possible with our first in '86 and "Don't Die of Ignorance" our first DIY "commercial" release soon after. The punk scene was fairly stagnant at this time with poorly attended small gigs but we carried on regardless with our weekly Wednesday night practices, which usually turned into free for all stoned and drunken three hour jamming sessions with our mates Scorched Earth! Gigs, instead of preaching to the converted sessions changed to being punk celebrations and were much better crack for it! Shane got to organising more and more small gigs in Ireland and gradually created a much larger network of regular venues and a better financial option for touring bands from abroad.

In 1988 we started recording our third demo "The Billy Hartley File" but before it could be finished Shane suddenly left. He had been becoming more and more disillusioned with life in Belfast and left with Patsy (of Toxic Waste) for a life in the South of Ireland living in a barrel topped horse drawn caravan. The rest of us still wanted to carry on and eventually recruited Annie from Derry who had moved to Belfast about a year earlier. She was great from the start and immediately recorded the vocals for "the Billy Hartley File" and we started gigging again.

Annie

Hardcore punk was becoming more popular at that time with more influences coming from a now international scene. The Warzone Collective starting to organise "All Ages" gigs at the Art College in Belfast bringing over loads of bands from overseas and suddenly the scene blossomed and punk once again became a force to be reckoned with. Kalv from In Yer Face records heard our demo and released it on vinyl as "Greatest Shits" in '88 and we decided to tour England to promote it. The tour unfortunately was a disaster from the start. Having absolutely no money we had to bring a load of our mates (including Scorched Earth) to help pay for the van hire and inevitably the drinking started before we left Belfast. Despite the drunken performances and dismal money from gigs we staggered round England playing with the likes of Extreme Noise Terror, Dr and the Crippens and the City Indians and I still have great memories from that time if a little hazy! Chuck left the band around this time and was replaced by Crispo from Drogheda who had moved up to Belfast and had previously played with the Crude and the Snyde. Crispo was a much tighter drummer, and musically, I think we progressed from here. In 1989 we were offered the split album with our mates from Glasgow, Sedition. We were given £400 to record our side. We decided to go to the cheapest studio we could find and record it as quickly as possible. We recorded and mixed 15 songs (14 for the split and "Teenage Kicks" for a Bradford 1 in 12 benefit album) in 4 hours, but it's probably the best recording we did. Annie in particular was on fire that day!We struggled on for a while longer recording a split single with our good friends Charred Remains on Slap a Ham records, but eventually the pressures of no money and trying to bring up young families got to us and Annie left in 1990.Shane died in 1998, Siobhan in 2000 and Chuck in 2011They were three of my best friends and will always be remembered.

PTiS at the Art College Belfast

Further reading"Trapped in a Scene - UK Hardcore 1985-1989" by Ian Glasper on Cherry Red Books